on our broadcast this friday night, getting better on the jobs front, but wait till you go to get gas this weekend. victory or death, it sure looks like an all-out war in parts of libya tonight as anti-gadhafi protesters are locked in battle. honor code. a star college basketball player benched for violating school rules. but why is this story getting such high interest? strangers no more. the small film that just won an oscar. what it's like in real life and what it says about our world. plus, america at the crossroads. women on the verge of a comeback. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. if you look at the numbers, the news is good. not so good if you have to get gas this weekend. here's what we mean. it's in the form of today's economic news. unemployment is down to a rate of 8.9%. of course the administration today said this is proof their policies are working. the bad news, the revolt in nations like libya, where we'll be taking you in a moment, is driving up oil prices. up over $2.50 a barrel today to close now at over $104 a barrel. national average for a gallon of gas is now close to $3.50, but we'll also take you tonight to where high test is selling for $5 a gallon. so we have all three fronts covered tonight, from here to north africa, beginning with white house correspondent savannah guthrie on the numbers today making news. savannah, good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you, brian. after so many months of

disappointment, finally today a jobs report that met expectations. there are signs employers are finally starting to pick up the pace of hiring, and the administration is just hoping that high gas and food prices don't knock the wind out of the recovery yet again. the president in florida with former governor jeb bush to pitch education reform was anxious to highlight a good report card for the economy. >> this morning we learned that the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in nearly two years. and that's progress. but we need to keep building on that momentum. >> reporter: employers added 192,000 jobs in february, the fastest growth in nearly a year. hiring was up almost across the board. business and professional services, education and health, manufacturing and construction. but a continued dark spot, state budgets, struggling to get out of the red, state and local governments slashed 30,000 jobs last month, continuing a

job-cutting streak more than a year old. while the economy is picking up steam, the hole is deep. more than eight million jobs were lost in the recession. 13.7 million people remain unemployed. 6 million have been jobless six months or longer. and the jobs report showed average hourly earnings have barely budged upwards. >> i'd reserve my judgment a little bit to try to see some of these good numbers confirmed over the next couple months, because what we do know is once the job market turns, and turns decidedly, it will keep going for a while. >> reporter: but economists warn the unemployment rate may actually rise again as discouraged workers start looking for work again, brian. >> you're so right. so much of this is tied to that oil price. savannah guthrie, thanks for starting us off. in the state of new jersey this morning the price of gas went up 17 cents and it's happening of course from east to west across the country. multiply that by what it takes to fill up, say, the average suv. do that a few times every week while commuting to work and home

again and that's real money. we know why it's happening, but we just don't know when and where these gas increases will stop. it will make everything more expensive. nbc's miguel almaguer is in west covina, california, tonight with this story. miguel, let's start with those gas prices over your shoulder. >> reporter: yeah, brian, good evening. sticker shock for so many californians. while us out west are used to higher gas prices, what's happening here is trickling down well beyond the pump. this los angeles suburb pumping out some of the highest gas prices in the nation. in west covina, you pay a premium for premium. $4.99. >> it's frustrating. >> reporter: in this bedroom community, we found the price of gas affects an entire city's economy. >> daniel, you're getting ready to go on a delivery pretty soon. >> reporter: 79-year-old mario del fonte, a second generation florist, worries his business will wither away if prices

continue to soar. his livelihood and that of his eight employees is on the line. >> this is one that's going by 9:00. >> reporter: when gas prices shot up, so did delivery costs. $50 now to fill up his small van. >> how much more we can stand, i can't answer that. >> reporter: realtor barbara akins says west covina's housing market is directly affected by gas prices. >> people won't be able to afford the houses if they're going to pay for the gas. >> reporter: julia contrares could no longer afford her 52-mile commute. this week she bought a prius. >> i had a four-hour shift. it wasn't worth my commute to go out to work because i was paying more in gas than i was making that day. >> reporter: students at nearby cal poly pomona, a commuter school, are barely scraping by themselves. isabela makes $8 an hour but pays $4 a gallon to get to class. >> i'm trying to figure out how i'm even going to get home today. >> reporter: and tonight experts from across the country predict

what's happening in this community will happen in a city and a pump near you. brian. >> miguel almaguer in california tonight. thanks. now to what's causing all of this. the same thing that's causing changes in the maps across middle east and north africa, the people's revolt, where the attention right now focused on libya and where it has escalated now in some regions into a real war for control of gadhafi's empire. a lot of the action taking place in and around tripoli. nbc's jim maceda remains there for us tonight. jim, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. well, the wave of change that swept tunisia and egypt has hit a brick wall here in libya. today's day of rage protests were crushed almost before they happened. a suburb of tripoli after friday prayers and hundreds of worshippers turned into anti-gadhafi protesters as soon as they left the mosque. what followed was a crackdown. precise, deliberate and brutal.

some protesters threw stones, but they never had a chance. riot police fired tear gas, rubber bullets, then live ammunition. >> now it is surrounded. what for? what for? at the end we will die. >> reporter: several protesters were wounded in the clashes. this was what the regime wanted to avoid, an anti-gadhafi protest right here last friday, which got out of hand. until police fired into the crowd, killing as many as ten protesters. the authorities were taking no chances today. on algeria square, site of tripoli's largest mosque, again friday prayers. a small number of anti-gadhafi protesters exited the mosque and started to chant "down with the regime" and suddenly everything turned on a dime. shots were fired. and gadhafi supporters ran amuck.

but in rebel-held benghazi today, protesters were free to demonstrate. nbc's stephanie gosk is there. >> reporter: here in the rebel capital, journalists are actually encouraged to leave their hotel and cover the protests. these are new recruits to the military. they have a message they want to spread today. victory or death. >> reporter: but it was death that struck outside benghazi tonight when two huge blasts at a weapons depot killed at least 20. the cause, still unknown. meanwhile gadhafi's son, saif, had his own message. >> the libyan people, they woke up from the shock, did realize everything and now they are reacting and fighting back. >> reporter: and fighting was fierce in rebel-held zawiya just miles from tripoli. this claims to show the town under massive counter attack. unconfirmed reports say the town is back in pro-gadhafi hands. it's hard to see how the opposition can regain the upper hand. it doesn't have the military

might to push into tripoli, while gadhafi has the money to buy lots of time. brian. >> jim, thanks. be safe there over this coming weekend. jim maceda in tripoli. we heard them use the phrase beyond libya some were billing this as a day of rage across the arab world, in places like bahrain, jordan and in egypt, where protesters returned to tahrir square where we just were, demanding the new government take power from the army now and quickly make good on all those pledges of reform. and in yemen where tens of thousands turned out, both for and against the president, who today rejected a plan to give up power there by the end of the year. turning to news in this country, the world of college basketball was rocked this week as one of the nation's top-ranked teams, brigham young, suspended one of its best players for violating that school's strict honor code. the player's not talking. he faces possible expulsion. and this has become a national news story because so many have

publicly questioned whether the punishment here fits the crime. the story from nbc's lee cowan. >> reporter: winning can be intoxicating, but that's not what got brigham young university star brandon davies in trouble. the 6'9" sophomore, one of byu's leading scorers, was suspended from the nationally ranked team for reportedly having sex. a red-letter violation of the mormon school's honor code. >> it is something that we don't wink at at the university. it's something that is applied fairly amongst all of our students. >> for byu, this moral standard is huge. >> reporter: it's got the nation talking. >> i probably would have swept this thing under the rug for two or three weeks. >> reporter: just how strict is too strict? >> players get kicked out of school all the time, but not for the things that byu players do. >> reporter: the cougars coach said those who criticize the university are missing the point. >> it's not about right and wrong. this is about commitment.

>> reporter: every student signed byu's honor code, which today sounds almost quaint. for men, no hair over the ears. for women, no skirts above the knee. other transgressions, no tea, no coffee, no bad language. every student is required to live a chaste and virtuous life. >> it just goes to show no matter who you are, no matter who you play for, no matter what jersey you wear, it all applies. >> reporter: never has byu had a shot at a national title, and now without davies, their chances are dimmed. the school could have waited until after the tournament for the punishment, but it chose a code over a championship. >> we live this. this is who we are. >> reporter: a rare suspension in college athletics which may have at first raised some eyebrows, but in the end, just may raise the bar. lee cowan, nbc news, los angeles. and when we continue on a friday night, women helping create an economic comeback. america at the crossroads. and later, the story you're

going to see tonight was good enough to win an oscar last weekend, so what can all of us learn from the story of one school?

we're covering america at a crossroads here this week. and tonight the landmark that has happened slowly. just as there are now more women in college than men, women now make up most of the managerial and professional jobs. kate snow tonight has our look at this change at the office and in american life. >> have a good day at the office. >> reporter: in hindsight, it's not hard to see. >> clients would rather deal with men when it comes to figures. >> oh, now we're getting it. >> reporter: in film as in real life, the role of the american working woman has undergone an extreme makeover. >> your incompetence do not interest me. >> take advertising, if you make the right move -- >> reporter: the days of mad men are long gone. >> everyone's perspective is valued in the company. >> reporter: at a training session for new employees in new

york, you can't help but notice all the estrogen in the room. >> have a seat. >> reporter: she has never felt held back by her gender. ten years ago she got excited about a new frontier in advertising. now she oversees digital projects. >> there was never a point in time where i thought i could never do this. >> reporter: women are now the backbone of the economy. about 60% of them work making up nearly half the workforce and increasingly moving into middle management. 75% of women say they make the shopping decisions, so they're the consumers too. and 40% of working women are the primary bread winners for their family. >> maybe growing up in a different generation. it doesn't bother me. >> reporter: it makes sense. you don't need rosie the riveter muscles to land a job in brain power. in fact females hold the majority of the positions in the five fields expected to grow the most over the next decade. it's changing the bottom line

today. david ross, a professor at columbia business school, did a comprehensive study of over 2,000 of the largest u.s. companies. companies performed significantly better when they had women in the management ranks than when they did not. >> on average, women may approach management in a more democratic, less dictatorial, more collaborative manner than men. in certain kinds of tasks, that can have a significant impact. >> reporter: the top tiers of the hotel industry used to be a men's club, but here at kimpson hotels, almost half of the managers are now women, thanks in part to a mentoring program founded by the female president nearly 15 years ago. the president, niki leondakis, says it makes a difference in the culture of the organization. in the '90s she was nicknamed "the terminator," felt she had to manage like a man. no more. >> i could be as tough as a man and at the same time show compassion and create an inclusive work environment. >> reporter: it's why business schools are teaching about

empathetic leadership. it's why norway has mandated that corporate boards be 40% female. of course for women in america it's not all rosy. a new projection shows women won't make the same salaries as men until the year 2056. still, things are changing. privi sees a clear path for her 5-year-old daughter. >> my mother was a full-time pediatrician. i'm a full-time working mom. i have no doubt that she will be brilliant in whatever she does and that she will be a working woman. >> reporter: and eventually all those little girls who grow up to work in a more equitable job environment will tip the scales even further, joining the generations of women who are already an engine for this new economy. kate snow, nbc news, new york. and you're about to see the most typical human face on earth. national geographic has compiled a video after doing research that shows the most typical

person in the world, meaning the face that there are more of than any other, is that of a 28-year-old han chinese male. there are nine million similar faces in our global population. they say within 20 years the next most typical person will reside in india. and when we come back here tonight, remembering one of the greats of the greatest generation.

the greatest generation has lost one of its greatest members. an ordinary american whose best day came on d-day when he had to be great to survive. bud lomell did something heroic that day and lived to fight another day. if you know his name, it's because tom brokaw chronicled his story back when we learned the phrase "greatest generation." and tonight following the death this week of bud lomell at the age of 91, tom brokaw takes a look back at his life. >> it was perhaps one of the most important missions of d-day. >> reporter: june 6, 1944, d-day. leonard "bud" lomell is one of the first ashore at pointe du hoc. >> it was horrible. blood was running in the surf. >> reporter: lomell was wounded as he landed but he pressed on, straight up the 100-foot cliffs with german fire all around him. with another ranger they managed to knock out the german artillery trained on the beach

saving an untold number of lives. >> a day doesn't go by i don't think about it. >> reporter: lomell won the distinguished service cross for that mission, fought for another year, was wounded again, and earned the silver star. he returned to new jersey, married charlotte, a nurse, and went to law school at rutgers. bud rarely mentioned his war-time heroics as he became a civic leader, church leader, prominent lawyer, and father to three daughters. but on the 40th anniversary of d-day, sergeant lomell and the rangers were famously celebrated by president reagan. >> these are the boys of pointe du hoc. >> reporter: while bud lomell often went back to that haunting cemetery on the beachhead where so many of his buddies are buried, it was never easy. >> to walk up to one of my ranger graves, gets me to the point where i -- i'll go sit in the bus. >> reporter: when asked about the war, bud invariably would

say "i don't talk about that, but let me tell you about charlotte and my daughters." "that's what i am most proud of" he would say. they in turn felt the same about him. war hero, father, citizen. >> tom brokaw on one of the greats of the greatest generation. a little history was made on the harvard campus today while a decision from the vietnam era was reversed. rotc is now back on the harvard campus for the first time since being kicked off during anti-vietnam war protests back in 1969. the recent gays in the military vote prompted harvard's decision. up next here tonight, a story of unity that won an academy award and the battle to keep one very unusual school intact.

it happened during that three-hour tv marathon last weekend. one of the oscars we saw get handed out is in real life bringing new attention to a school in israel that's teaching a powerful lesson in unity. but there's something else to know about this school. we get the story tonight from nbc's martin fletcher in israel. >> reporter: from welcoming the

sabbath in the slums of south tel aviv today, to helping win the oscar -- >> yeah! >> reporter: school principal karen tau is on top of the world. school brings together jews, muslims and christians from 48 countries, many of them from migrant workers. it's the subject of "strangers no more" which won best short documentary. >> i come from nigeria. >> i came from egypt. >> i'm from sudan and darfur. >> reporter: many of the pupils are refugees. >> almost every student is running away from something. >> reporter: one of the film's stars is 12-year-old esther from south africa. her mother was murdered, her father's life threatened. >> i don't have any other place to go to. >> reporter: the film ends beautifully, but in real life, not every story has a happy ending. about 120 of the students here face deportation.

they're illegal immigrants. and one of them is esther. life is hard. she and her father live in one room. she gets up alone. her father cleans houses, starting 4:30 in the morning six days a week. last-minute homework with her best friend. so far from hollywood. but helping win the oscar has given esther a voice, and what a voice. >> i'm a fighter, and i can fight for my rights. >> reporter: hundreds of israelis rallied today to stop the refugee children from being deported. the law says children in israel for more than five years can stay. esther has been here four. >> if they step an inch in this house and to say that they will deport me, they'll see a lot of trouble. >> reporter: the school principal wants to help. >> which kind of message are we giving? who are we? >> reporter: israel, a safe haven for some, but not for all. and esther, still hoping for her hollywood ending. martin fletcher, nbc news, tel aviv.

and that is our broadcast for this friday night and for this week. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. lester holt will be here with you this weekend. we hope to see you right back here on monday night. in the meantime, have a good weekend. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com right now at 6:00, fast track to safety. the one intersection that could have a new reputation soon. >> a surprise visit from a woman synonymous with the civil rights movement. she addressed the crowd. i'm cheryl herd. i'll tell you who she is coming up. the governor in the bay area. what is means for a march towards the special election this summer.